title: Maternal verbal responses to communication of infants at low and heightened risk of autism.
abstract: This study investigates mothers' responses to infant communication among infants at heightened genetic risk (high risk) of autism spectrum disorder compared to infants with no such risk (low risk). A total of 26 infants, 12 of whom had an older sibling with autism spectrum disorder, were observed during naturalistic in-home interaction and semistructured play with their mothers at 13 and 18 months of age. Results indicate that overall, mothers of low-risk and high-risk infants were highly and similarly responsive to their infants' communicative behaviors. However, examination of infant vocal and gestural communication development together with maternal verbal responses and translations (i.e. verbally labeling a gesture referent) suggests that delays in early communication development observed among high-risk infants may alter the input that these infants receive; this in turn may have cascading effects on the subsequent development of communication and language.
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh, USA nbl3@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: Nina B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Leezenbaum
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh, USA.
authors.forename: Susan B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.affiliation: Northern Illinois University, USA.
authors.forename: Derrecka
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh, USA.
authors.forename: Jana M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Iverson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D002657:Child Development; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D012306:Risk; D013060:Speech
keywords: autism spectrum disorder; communication development; gesture; parent verbal responsiveness